Are you leading?………

I have been reflecting on my own leadership journey as an Assistant Principal and have tried to reflect on some things that I believe have moved me as a leader. Perhaps from a big focus on management to a big focus on leadership.

Leadership and management are not the same but are no doubt linked in roles we undertake in schools. They are both however very very different and in schools are rarely one or the other. Leadership is often linked to school improvement. In my experience some of the most successful school environments are those leadership teams that understand the difference, recognise the need for both and establish a team that is willing to take risks, be questioned and take the ‘leap of faith’ to where they want to head.

Within education we are constantly talking about innovation- both staff and students. As a leader my job is to inspire and innovate. When we want to teach students to be innovative and creative we require them to take risks dont we? Is this any different for us as school leaders? I believe if you want to be a good leader you need to take risks and be okay with not knowing everything. I say that with absolute confidence now, but it look me a long time to move to the point where it was ok to let others know things that I didn’t. Some of my biggest movements in change in recent times as a leader has come from this.

Are you a risk taker? I think you need to be if you see yourself as a good school leader- you need to put yourself out there knowing that you dont know everything, that people may question you and god forbid somebody you lead may even be better at something! Teachers who are supported, trusted and valued within the teams I oversee have had the biggest impact on change I have been involved in and have led. Valuing them at times has also meant questioning them and being questioned in return.

During this week I have had a number of difficult conversations. As a Leader I would much prefer if I was able to saturate my days with not having to engage in difficult conversations. Nobody enjoys these conversations but I do enjoy the improvement that often comes from these if led appropriately and with a clear purpose.  As a leader starting out, I would avoid difficult conversations and conflict at all costs.  I certainly don’t enjoy conflict but I don’t avoid it now, have improved how I have these conversations and am able to use this conflict for positives.

As leaders we all have strengths and weaknesses and as we move along our leadership journey I believe we should become much better at leading and building capacity. In my leadership journey this didn’t just happen because I sat and existed within the status quo, surrounded myself with people that haven’t questioned me and  haven’t spent hours unpacking with others what it actually means to be a leader. This happened because I have challenged the status quo, I have grown to a point where I want to be surrounded by people that offer different skill sets and want to question me ( life would be boring if we didn’t wouldn’t it?) and have been lucky enough to have fellow leaders who do spend time exploring what it means to be a leader. Throughout all of this I have taken risks and been pushed.

It took me a long time to be able to do things such as step back and think strategically beyond my own role, let people challenge me and question me, know that it’s ok to challenge the status quo and  let others lead around me and over me in areas that I have and do lead now.

Look around. Are you leading?

What are you passionate about?

I was recently fortunate to attend a conference with some sessions by William Ferriter and Timothy Konald. I went to a number of sessions over the conference with different presenters but it was these two sessions that resonated with me and made me think and question lots of things before returning to school.

I will return to the actual content of these sessions in my next blog post, but i returned to school inspired and motivated to share my thoughts with as many staff as possible. Partof this excitement was also met with thoughts of how we engage all staff in the excitement of the journey I could foresee with planning for student learning outcomes and developing a genuine PLC environment across our learning areas. A crucial part of my role also includes developing and supporting the leaders that I work with. As I have reflected on the excitement of where we can head I have also begun to think about and structure some conversations and tools to support other leaders in contributingto this.

I have been fortunate to have worked in both teaching and leadership roles in other sites and have been exposed to a number of  leaders, structures, processes and support systems. William Ferriter mentioned that as teachers we can potentially fall into the trap of falling back into what we know by those teachers we had when we were at school- this made me think as leaders do we do the same? When the going gets tough and crazy and we feel like we don’t have time to be strategic and pro active do we fall back into what is easy and comfortable and what has been modelled to us early on in our leadership journey- even if we know this may not be ideal? I would hope we dont- but at times I know that the easiest fallback is quite often survival and we forgot about why we do things and what inspires us.

Thanks to Timothy Kanold for asking the most powerful questions I have had for a while as a leader. What do you stand for? How is this represented in your leadership? A fellow passionate leader @rhonimcfarlane that I was discussing this with commented that the best teachers are those that are passionate. Some of the biggest and most invigorating movements I have had as a leader have been within areas I am extremely passionate about. What are you passionate about? How is this represented in your leadership?

The best way to avoid criticism is to never do anything!

As a leader it is so important that we support and inspire others and balance the “push and pull”. The involvement within these things on a daily basis inspires me as an educator and leader and I often find myself questioning in my own mind how I lead and where things are heading.  I can be very critical of my own performance and often question if what I’m doing is having a genuine impact on student outcomes.

At times, I also  find myself critically questioning (and through this hopefully motivating and getting them to think beyond the square) leaders that work within the areas I oversee. My point being that as a leader, it is so crucial that we have that somebody that will question us, push us, pull us and make us think outside the square.

As a leader it’s healthy to be involved in these critical conversations and field questions about where you are heading. It’s quite often these conversations that move me from one point to the next, that give me clarity and make me often think about points I hadn’t previously considered. Dont get me wrong, at times these questions and conversations can be very confronting. Confronting in a great way though.

I was recently engaged in one of those conversations, and found myself ‘defending’ my leadership and why and how I do things. I walked away from that conversation feeling alive, as my defence response as a leader has moved from not so much about being about defending my performance, but rather about expressing my passion for how and why I lead.

The questioning and critical conversations beyond my own mind is an area that now drives me, and I am lucky enough to have key people in my journey as  a leader that have and do criticise me, ask me very difficult questions and make me think outside the square.  As a beginning leader I always found it very difficult to engage in a critical conversation feeling that questions were directed towards my performance. Upon reflection I now know that this wasn’t the case, but I also know that these conversations were key in forming the headset I have today.  My headset as an Assistant Principal now is very different to my headset when I first started in my role 6 years ago.

I’m not sure how or why as leaders we would want to avoid these conversations and pushes from people around us. The best way to avoid criticism is to never do anything! So I think I might stick with the criticisms, and continue to do what I love and I’m passionate about every day.  I want people to question me, inspire me, poke me and prod me! It makes me feel alive, and brings out my passion.

Leading Transition….A shifting focus

The Transition process for Yr 7 students can be a very exciting experience, culminating in a full day visit to our secondary site in Term 4. It can be very exciting, but also very daunting for students to be entering a number of new learning environments, with new teachers, new bell times, new expectations, new friends and lots of unknowns!

As a Middle School leader, I have organised and led a number of 7/8 Transition Days in two large complex sites. As a young leader, I was always fixated on getting through the day and surviving with minimal things going wrong! As I continue to mature as a leader, the focus on my Transition Day has evolved. I found myself reflecting last week both in the lead up to our Transition Day and post, not about my confidence in the organisation of the day but more about my complete heightened awareness of genuinely wanting the students to walk away with great memories from their first full day at high school.

It was so refreshing as a leader to genuinely feel excitement and anxiety in the lead up to our 7/8 Transition day, with my focus solely directed towards the students and what they would take from the day.

What can we learn from elite athletes?

Practice and Practice!

As educational leaders do we practice our skills and natural abilities enough, to ensure true greatness in what we are trying to achieve on a daily basis?

Most of us assume that elite athletes have incredible natural talent. Research has shown that innate ability has relatively little to do with why people go from being good to being truly great. Being truly great in a chosen sport is all about practice. Elite performers practice hard, specifically and consistently.

Failure.

As educational leaders, are we willing to challenge ourselves or our staff and fail at times, for the sake of improvement and innovation within our school community? 

Elite athletes aren’t afraid to challenge themselves for fear of losing.  They learn to cope with it so that they learn, grow, and perform better next time.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, it is a habit.”

– Aristotle, Philosopher

Elite Sport Athletes and Teams…. What can we learn from them?

Elite performers practice hard, in a really specific way, and they practice consistently. What can we as educational leaders learn from sporting teams and elite athletes?

Am I the type of leader I admire in others?……

I spoke in my first blog about the importance of leaders in taking time to stop and reflect, and to prioritise this as an important tool in moving forward within our journeys.

Today as a leadership team, we spent the whole day ‘talking’ about ‘stuff’. It made me reflect on the power of this time that we need as a team, and how powerful this can be in bringing us all on the same page and allowing us to critically reflect upon our beliefs as educators. It was amazing and invigorating to discuss issues and strategies within The Grattan Report, and how these are interpreted so differently within our team. I relish the opportunities we currently have at Wirreanda High School to critically reflect and question each other within a supportive team, and today reminded me that we have come a long way over such a short period of time.

Within my journey as an Assistant Principal and previous to this a Curriculum Coordinator, I have always been excited about the impact we as leaders can potentially have upon staff and ultimately student outcomes.

As we talked today about our role as a team and individual leaders in mentoring and modelling to our Executive team, I reflected upon the last 6 years and how I have developed into such a different leader. Different in a number of ways….maybe wiser? maybe more resilient? maybe more relaxed? maybe more strategic? maybe more aware of my ability to enhance the capacity of new leaders coming through?

At times throughout the ‘talk’ today, numerous questions filtered through my mind and I will no doubt ponder these as the year progresses.

Am I the type of leader I admire in others?

Am I as a leader clearly aligned with the mission and vision of the school? Am I leading my areas I oversee in the same direction?

Do I take enough leadership risks? 

Today we welcomed two new senior leaders into our team for 2013, I’m excited about working with you both Shane and Teresa!

Finally my first blog…..

Finally after thinking about, contemplating, looking at others and researching blogs I am taking the jump! For so long I have talked about wanting to create my own blog, but have never dedicated the time to do this. As I listened to George Couros talk to our staff during the week, I finally connected some thoughts I had been having about this and became really excited about how my blog could unfold.

As leaders within busy school environments we are often bogged down with the operational roles of schools, and overseeing our innovative change agendas within the context of a whole site improvement plan. Rarely do we prioritise to stop and reflect on our own personal journey. I am very lucky to work within a fantastic team at Wirreanda High School, with innovative change and challenges producing an amazing buzz around the place.  I love my job, and love that it gives me opportunities to have such an amazing impact upon the students and staff that I work with.

Over the last few years as an Assistant Principal I have often talked about exciting programs or change that I have either been involved in or led, and have always reflected that we should have captured the journey in a much more innovative and extensive way. I look forward to utilising my blog to capture some of these exciting journeys that we are currently experiencing at Wirreanda High School, and also the journey I ride on a daily basis as a developing leader.

And so the journey begins……

Welcome to my blog. I look forward to sharing my professional journey with you. Stay tuned for more!